Kanjira

Other names	Ganjira
Classification	hand percussion
Playing range
High sound of jingles, plus some have a skin with a lower sound.
Related instruments
Riq, Buben, Dayereh, Daf, Tambourine, Frame drum

The kanjira, khanjira or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. It is used primarily in concerts of Carnatic music (South Indian classical music) as a supporting instrument for the mridangam. The kanjira have been used since 1880's, and was added to classical concerts during the 1930s.

Similar to the Western tambourine, it consists of a circular frame made of the wood of the jackfruit tree, between 7 and 9 inches in width and 2 to 4 inches in depth. It is covered on one side with a drumhead made of monitor lizard skin (specifically the Bengal monitor, Varanus bengalensis, now an endangered species in India), while the other side is left open. The frame has a single slit which contain three to four small metal discs—often old coins—that jingle when the kanjira is played.

The kanjira is a relatively difficult Indian drum to play, especially in South Indian Carnatic music, for reasons including the complexity of the percussion patterns used in Indian music. It is normally played with the palm and fingers of the right hand, while the left hand supports the drum. The fingertips of the left hand can be used to bend the pitch by applying pressure near the outer rim. It is not tuned to any particular pitch, unlike the mridangam or the ghatam.

Normally, without tuning, it has a very high pitched sound. To get a good bass sound, the performer reduces the tension of the drumhead by sprinkling water on the inside of the instrument. This process may have to be repeated during a concert to maintain a good sound. However, if the instrument is too moist, it will have a dead tone, requiring 5–10 minutes to dry. Tone is also affected by external temperature and moisture conditions. Performers typically carry a couple of kanjiras so that they can keep at least one in perfectly tuned condition at any given time.

[edit] Kanjirists ^{[1] [2]}

Past[link]

• G Harishankar is widely considered to have been the greatest kanjira artist ever to have played this instrument.

Pudukottai Manpoondia Pillai, Dakshinamurthy Pillai, H. P. Ramachar, Mayavaram Somusundaram, C. K. Shyam Sundar, Thirukadaiyur T. K. Dakshinamoorthy, V. Nagarajan.

Present[link]

B. Shree Sundar Kumar, K. V. Gopalakrishnan, B.S. Purushotham, N. Amrit, Anirudh Athreya, V. Selvaganesh, N. Ganeshkumar, K. S. Rangachari, K. V. R. S. Mani, C. P. Vyasa Vittala, C. S. Venkatramanan, Abhishek Raghuram, Alathur T. Rajaganesh, Guru Raghavendra, Latha Ramachar, Nerkunam S. Sankar, Neyveli B. Venkatesh, Papanasam S. Sethuraman, Thenkasi H. Paramasivam, Thiruvayur Saikrishnan, Thrikakkara Y. N. Shantharam, Tirupur G. Sridhar Kumar, Trichy V. V. S. Manian.

References[link]

Pete Lockett
Background information
Birth name	Peter Robert Lockett
Origin	Portsmouth, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Various
Occupations	Musician, composer
Instruments	drums and percussion
Years active	1983–present
Associated acts	Björk Peter Gabriel The Verve
Website	official website
Notable instruments
Tabla Taiko

Peter Robert Lockett is an English percussionist and recording artist. Lockett is known as a versatile and prolific percussionist, collaborating with many artists.^[1] He is well-versed in percussion traditions from music cultures around the world, including, Arabic, Japanese, Indian and Western.^[2]

Youth[link]

Lockett grew up in Portsmouth, South East England in a non-musical family.^[3] He gained an interest in music at the age of 19 when he passed a drum shop one day and decided to book a lesson.^[4] Lockett found a career in music (especially in percussion) to be exhilarating,^[4] eventually moving to London two years later to pursue a career in the field.

Career[link]

He has recorded and/or performed with many artists including, Björk, Afro Celt Sound System, Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, The Verve, Amy Winehouse, Pet Shop Boys, Sinéad O' Connor, Nitin Sawhney, Zakir Hussain and A.R. Rahman amongst many others.^[1][2][3][4] He has also worked extensively in the film industry, playing on a number of Bond movies,^[3] Moulin Rouge!, The Insider, City of Angels, The Bone Collector and the Guy Ritchie movie Snatch.^[2][5]

See also[link]

Percussion

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Official MySpAcE

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Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain in Konark Natya Mandap, Orissa, India 2012
Background information
Born	(1951-03-09) 9 March 1951 (age 61)
Origin	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Genres	Hindustani classical music, jazz fusion
Occupations	Tabla Maestro
Instruments	Tabla
Years active	1963–present
Labels	HMV
Website	www.zakirhussain.com

Zakir Hussain (Hindi: ज़ाकिर हुसैन, Urdu: ذاکِر حسین), (born 9 March 1951), is an Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer.

Early life[link]

Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the legendary tabla player Alla Rakha.^[1] He attended St. Michael's High School in Mahim, and graduated from St Xaviers, Mumbai.^[2]

His younger brothers are noted percussionists, Taufiq Qureshi and Fazal Qureshi and Maral Qureshi.

Musical career[link]

Hussain was a child prodigy, and was touring by the age of twelve. He went to the United States in 1970, beginning his international career which includes more than 150 concert dates a year.^[3] In 1973, he appeared on George Harrison's Living in the Material World album. A prolific composer, he has received widespread recognition.

Hussain is a founding member of Bill Laswell's 'World Music Supergroup' Tabla Beat Science.^[4]

Hussain participates in the Silk Road collaborative musical project. [1] He teaches Tabla to advanced students in both San Francisco and Mumbai. Zakir participates in the Global Drum Project with percussionists from around the world.

In 1992, Hussain founded Moment! Records, which features original collaborations in the field of contemporary world music, as well as live concert performances by great masters of the classical music of India. The label presents his own world percussion ensemble, The Rhythm Experience, both North and South Indian classical recordings, Best of Shakti and the Masters of Percussion series. Moment Records’ 2006 release Golden Strings of the Sarode, with Aashish Khan and Zakir Hussain, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album category for that year.

John McLaughlin collaborations[link]

Hussain worked with John McLaughlin on several Indo-Jazz projects, beginning with their collaboration in the band Shakti (band) on the albums Shakti (1975 Columbia), A Handful of Beauty (1976 Columbia),and Natural Elements (1977 CBS). McLaughlin later appeared on Zakir's album Making Music. Twenty years later, they rejoined in the band Remember Shakti, recording the albums Remember Shakti (1999 Universal Records), The Believer (2000 Universal Records), Saturday Night in Bombay (2001 Universal Records), Live at 38th Montreux Jazz Festival (18 July 2004), and Live at Miles Davis Hall (8 July 2004). They also appeared in the DVD The Way of Beauty. Both bands performed live both in the U.S. and abroad as recently as 2008.^[5]

Mickey Hart collaborations[link]

Hussain has collaborated with Mickey Hart on many projects, beginning with Hart's first solo album Rolling Thunder, and including Diga, At The Edge, Planet Drum, Mickey Hart's Mystery Box, Supralingua, Spirit into Sound, and Global Drum Project. He has been part of several of his bands including the Diga Rhythm Band, Planet Drum, Bembe' Orishas, and the Global Drum Project. Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Chandan Sharma, Sonu Nigham. (2009) Mumbai Steadily These projects have brought him together with such masters of world percussion and music as Sikiru Adepoju, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Babatunde Olatunji, and Giovanni Hidalgo.

The first Planet Drum album, released in 1991 on the Rykodisc label, went on to earn the 1992 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album, the first Grammy ever awarded in this category.^[6][7] The Global Drum Project album and tour brought Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo together again in a reunion sparked by the 15th anniversary of the ground-breaking album Planet Drum. The album Global Drum Project won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 51st Grammy Awards Ceremony held on 8 February 2009.^[8]

Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer collaborations[link]

When Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer were asked to compose a triple concerto by the Nashville Symphony, they both named Hussain as their first choice for the third member. The piece, titled The Melody of Rhythm; Concerto premiered on 9 September 2006 with Leonard Slatkin conducting the Nashville Symphony. The trio composed several more songs together, and included both the concerto and additional works on a CD released in 2009 entitled The Melody of Rhythm – Triple Concerto & Music for Trio (2009 E1 Music). On the recording, the orchestral parts are performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, with Leonard Slatkin once again holding the baton. The liner notes indicate the trio has more projects in mind for the future.^[9]

Film career[link]

Hussain starred in the Merchant Ivory Film Heat and Dust in 1983, for which he also composed the score. He composed, performed and acted as Indian music advisor for the Malayalam film Vanaprastham,^[10] a 1999 Cannes Film Festival entry which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival (AFI Fest) in 1999, and won awards at 2000 Istanbul International Film Festival (Turkey), 2000 Bombay International Film Festival (India), and 2000 National Film Awards (India). He has composed soundtracks for several movies, most notably In Custody and The Mystic Masseur by Ismail Merchant, and has played tabla on the soundtracks of Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now, Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha, and other films.^[11] He also composed the soundtrack of the Aparna Sen's Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, being himself the singer of some of the songs, for the first time in cinema.

He starred in several films specifically showcasing his musical performance both solo and with different bands, including the 1998 documentary "Zakir and His Friends",^[12] and the documentary "The Speaking Hand: Zakir Hussain and the Art of the Indian Drum" (2003 Sumantra Ghosal).^[13] He also performs in the DVDs The Rhythm Devils Concert Experience (2008), and The Way of Beauty (2006) with the band Remember Shakti.

Personal life[link]

Ustad Zakir Hussain performing at Konark, Orissa

Zakir Hussain married Antonia Minnecola, a Kathak dancer and teacher, who is also his manager.^[14]

Zakir Hussain has two daughters Anisa Qureshi and Isabella Qureshi. Anisa Qureshi graduated from UCLA and is trying her hand in video production and film making. The other daughter, Isabella is studying as a dance major in Manhattan.^[15]

He was named an Old Dominion Fellow by the Humanities Council at Princeton University, where he resided for the 2005–2006 semester as full professor in the music department.^[16] He was also a visiting professor at Stanford University.^[17]

Discography[link]

• Mysterium Tremendum (2012) – Mickey Hart Band
• Global Drum Project (2007) – Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Imran Hussain, Chandan Sharma Sikiru Adepoju, Giovanni Hidalgo – Shout Factory
• Soukha – V. Selvaganesh (with John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, Vikku, Shrinivas) – Naive
• Sangam (2006) – Jazz collaboration with bandleader Charles Lloyd.
• Punjabi Dhamar (2004)
• Raag Chandrakauns (2004)
• Live at 38th Montreux Jazz Festival (18 July 2004) – Remember Shakti
• Live at Miles Davis Hall (8 July 2004) – Remember Shakti
• Energy (2003)
• The Best of Mickey Hart: Over the Edge and Back (2002) – Mickey Hart
• Selects (2002)
• Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove (2002) – Tabla Beat Science
• Summit (2002) – George Brooks (Earth Brothers Music BMI)
• Golden Strings of the Sarode (2001) – Aashish Khan & Zakir Hussain
• Saturday Night in Bombay (2001) – Remember Shakti (Universal Records)
• Tala Matrix (2000) – Tabla Beat Science
• Spirit into Sound (2000) – Mickey Hart
• The Believer (2000) – Remember Shakti
• Remember Shakti (1999) – Remember Shakti
• And the Rhythm Experience (1998)
• Night Spinner (1998) – George Brooks (Moment Records)
• Supralingua (1998) – Mickey Hart
• Essence of Rhythm (1998)
• Magical Moments of Rhythm (1997)
• Kirwani (1997)
• The Elements – Space (1996)
• Mickey Hart's Mystery Box (1996) – Mickey Hart
• Maestro's Choice – Series Two (1995) – Sultan Khan & Zakir Hussain
• World Network Series, Vol. 1: India- Raga Purya Kalyan (1995) – Zakir Hussain & Shivkumar Sharma
• Raga Aberi (1995) – Shankar
• Golden Krithis Colours – (1994) – Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan
• Jog And Rageshri (1994)
• Ustad Amjad Ali Khan & Zakir Hussain (1994) – Amjad Ali Khan & Zakir Hussain
• Concert for Peace (1993) – Ravi Shankar
• Music of the Deserts (1993)
• Rag Madhuvanti / Rag Misra Tilang (1993) – Shivkumar Sharma
• Flights of Improvisation (1992)
• The One and Only (1992)
• Sangeet Sartaj (1992)
• Zakir Hussain and the Rhythm Experience (1992)
• Maestro's Choice Series One (1991) – Alla Rakha
• Planet Drum (1991) – Mickey Hart
• When Words Disappear (1991) – David Trasoff & Zakir Hussain
• At the Edge (1990) – Mickey Hart
• Venu (1989) – Hariprasad Chaurasia & Zakir Hussain
• Tabla Duet (1988) – Zakir Hussain & Alla Rakha
• Making Music (1987) with Jan Garbarek, John McLaughlin and Hariprasad Chaurasia
• Song for Everyone (1985) – L. Shankar
• Who's to Know (1980) – L. Shankar
• Morning Ragas (1979) with Vasant Rai
• Natural Elements (1977) – Shakti with John McLaughlin
• A Handful of Beauty (1976) – Shakti with John McLaughlin
• Diga (1976) – Diga Rhythm Band
• Shakti (1975) – Shakti with John McLaughlin
• Rolling Thunder (1972) – Mickey Hart
• Shanti (1971)
• Evening Ragas (1970) Vasant Rai
• Ustad Mohammad Omar: Virtuoso from Afghanistan (2002)- Zakir Hussain

Filmography[link]

• The Rhythm Devils Concert Experience (2008 – DVD) – The Rhythm Devils
• The Way of Beauty (2006 – DVD) – Remember Shakti
• The Speaking Hand: Zakir Hussain and the Art of the Indian Drum (2003) Sumantra Ghosal)
• Talamanam Sound Clash – Further Adventures in Hype (2003 – DVD) – Tabla Beat Science
• Zakir and His Friends (1998)
• Heat and Dust (1983) Merchant Ivory Film
• Saaz

Soundtracks[link]

• One Dollar Curry (2003) – Vijay Singh (writer and filmmaker)
• Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002) – Aparna Sen
• The Mystic Masseur (2001) – Ismail Merchant
• Vanaprastham (1999) – Shaji N. Karun
• Little Buddha (1993) – Bernardo Bertolucci
• In Custody (1993) – Ismail Merchant
• Apocalypse Now (1979) – Francis Coppola
• Saaz

Awards and accolades[link]

• Awarded the titles of Padma Shri in 1988, and Padma Bhushan in 2002^[18] , becoming the youngest percussionist to be awarded these titles, given to civilians of merit by the Indian government.
• Awarded the Indo-American Award in 1990 in recognition for his outstanding cultural contribution to relations between the United States and India.
• Presented with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1991 by the President of India, making him one of the youngest musicians to receive this recognition from India's governing cultural institute.
• In 1992 Planet Drum, an album co-created and produced by Hussain and Mickey Hart, was awarded the first-ever Grammy for Best World Music Album, the Downbeat Critics’ Poll for Best World Beat Album and the NARM Indie Best Seller Award for a World Music Recording.
• Recipient of the 1999 National Heritage Fellowship, the United States’ most prestigious honour for a master in the traditional arts, presented by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the United States Senate on 28 September 1999.^[19]
• In 2005, he was named an Old Dominion Fellow by the Humanities Council at Princeton University, where he resided for the 2005–2006 semester as full professor in the music department, teaching a survey course in Indian classical music and dance.
• Recipient of the prestigious Kalidas Samman in 2006, an award for artists of exceptional achievement, from the government of Madhya Pradesh.
• Golden Strings of the Sarode (Moment! Records 2006) with Aashish Khan and Zakir Hussain was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional World Music Album category in 2006.
• In 2007, readers’ polls from both Modern Drummer and Drum! magazines named Zakir Hussain Best World Music and Best World Beat Drummer respectively.
• On 8 February 2009 for 51st Grammy Awards, Zakir Hussain won the Grammy in the Contemporary World Music Album category for his collaborative album "Global Drum Project" along with Mickey Hart, Sikiru Adepoju & Giovanni Hidalgo.^[20]

Interview[link]

• Zakir Hussain Radio Interview OFFBEAT with Karishmeh – 103.2 Dublin City FM, Ireland, Zakir Hussain in conversation with Karishmeh Felfeli (June 2009, Dublin City FM)
• Masters of Percussion: An Interview with Zakir Hussain – with Douglas Heselgrave (The Music Box, Friday 12 September 2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zakir Hussain

• Zakir Hussain to perform Live in Pune
• Drummer World
• Moment Records
• Zakir Hussain at the Internet Movie Database
• Pennsylvania State University Page
• Zakir Hussain Tour Information @ Liveisbetter

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Karaikudi Mani (born as Ganapathy Subramanyam on September 11, 1945 in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India) is an Indian percussionist, primarily adept in the mridangam.

Personal life[link]

Karaikudi Mani was born on September 11, 1945 at Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu. He is the son of Late Sri.T. Ramanatha Iyer and Smt. Pattammal. He stepped into Carnatic Music at the age of 3. Although he commenced with Vocal training, very soon he realised his special interest was in Percussion and switched over to the Mridangam.

His Gurus were Karaikudi Sri Rangu Iyengar, Sri T R Harihara Sharma and Sri K M Vaidyanathan. His first stage performance took place when he was 8 years old at Karaikudi. Thereafter he developed the Karakudi Mani Bhani (Style), which won the hearts of many young percussionists and others all over the World and has earned him the status of being a trend-setter in the field of Mridangam.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

“Master Mani” as he is now known^{[citation needed]}, was soon performing regularly. He was growing up in what is now hailed as the Golden era of music. It was the time when the Great father of Mridangam, Sri Palghat Mani Iyer was in his prime. Mani professes immense admiration for the veteran Mridangist. In his early days, Mani idolised the great Palghat Mani Iyer, and soon became noticed by the Mridangam giant himself. Mani proclaims one of his greatest accolades to be the instance when Sri Palghat Mani Iyer praised Mani in a public concert.

Master Mani was soon making a mark in Carnatic world through his natural born flair and devotion to music. He commenced tutelage under Sri Haihara Sharma after moving to Chennai. Master Mani received his first national award from the then President of India, Dr Radhakrishnan at the age of 18. For the next four decades, he declined scores of prestigious awards that were offered to him, until 1999^[1] when he accepted the national award from "Sangeeth Natak Academy". This was presented by the President of India at the time, Mr K.R. Narayanan.

As a teenage musician he performed with the likes of D K Pattammal, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer,Lalgudi G Jayaraman,Dr. M BalamuraliKrishna, Madurai Somu, Chembai Vaidhyanatha Bagavathar, T. R. Mahalingam, Voleti Venkateshwarulu, M D Ramanathan, and M.S.Subbulakshmi, to mention a few.^{[citation needed]}

Sruthi Laya[link]

In 1986, he started a unique ensemble combining melody and percussion under one roof with some leading artists called "SRUTHI LAYA".^[2] He gave importance to taalavadya concerts and released CDs namely Sruthi Laya Vol 1 and 2, Laya Chitra, Laya Priya, Pushkaram, Melodessey etc. With these unique ensembles, the talavadya instruments and thani avartanam concerts gained respect and elevated Mridangam to a different league. This awareness gave a thrust to many contemporary artists to bring out audio and CD albums.

In 1989 , SRUTHI LAYA SEVA School was started in a small room in Rangarajapuram, Chennai with 5 minutes thani avarthanam by Sri Guru Surajananda's Mridanga Naadam. With Guruji's blessings now the school has its centres at Chennai, Bangalore, Australia, London, USA, and Canada. More than 1000 students learn to play the Mridangam through this school directly or indirectly.

Bhani[link]

Karaikuidi Mani remembers with jovial nostalgia his first international tour with Madurai Somu. Since then he has traveled widely and established centres in many foreign destinations. It was during this period that the seeds were sewn for the inception of a new style of playing Mridangam, The Karaikudi Mani Bani (style). Mani was beginning to develop his own techniques of playing Mridangam.

Spiritually Musical[link]

As the 1970s drew to a close, a major change in the life of Mani occurred. He met his Spiritual Guru, Sri Guru Surajananda. Mani often talks about his Guruji, and has proclaimed that his way of thinking and lifestyle was completely transformed after meeting this celestial mentor. He attributes his success and achievements to the heartfelt blessings of his great Guruji. He soon attained the status of being one of the world's foremost Mridangists, performing regularly with leading artistes such as Lalgudi Jayaraman, N Ramani , Maharajapuram Santhanam, DK Jayaraman, K V Narayanaswamy and other stalwarts of that era.

For an artiste who had reached the pinnacle of his profession at such a young age by Carnatic music standards, one felt what else is there left to strive for professionally? However, amongst Mani's most admirable attributes are his desire to innovate, persevere and his dedication to hard work. The next highlight in his life came when he founded his institution, Sruthi Laya Seva. This was humbly inaugurated in 1986 in Madras by Mani's guru, Guru Surajananda. Since then, Mani has established several centres within India as well as in the UK, Australia, Germany, and the US.

Mani's inherent desire to propagate the highly sophisticated structure of South Indian rhythm and present innovative rhythmic ideologies led him to set up the Sruthi Laya percussion ensemble. This was supported by a large orchestra. For this he composed several musical pieces as well as rhythmic compositions; these have been released on CDs. (One of his pieces, “Vasantha Pravaham”, has been performed by students in the programme as a tribute.) The group performed all over India as well as abroad. This venture was well received by Carnatic fans and critics. Such talavadya kutcheris (percussion ensembles) have contributed significantly in raising the profile of Indian percussion both in India and worldwide. Mani's aptitude as a composer as well as a music director has been brought to the forefront over the years. He also performed in Prasanthi Nilayam, in front of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba...

Thani Avarthanam - A Concept[link]

He conducted and orchestrated several such concerts, notably a collaboration with Sri VS Narasimhan in 1990 presented Melodyssey, a project with 40 artistes, including Western and Indian Instruments. This won widespread appreciation and was released on tape.

Already acknowledged as one of the titans in laya (Rhythm)^{[citation needed]}, Mani's bani had spread worldwide. His service to his art continued with his next endeavour, the concept of “Thani Avarthanam” concerts. Whilst Thala Vadya (Percussion ensemble) concerts in Carnatic music were not unheard of, the concept of just two percussion instruments performing solos without any other “sruthi” performers (e.g. vocal, violin) had never been attempted. In 1993 Karaikudi Mani presented his first Thani Avarthanam concert along with the late Kanjira wizard G Harishankar. This spellbinding performance is regarded a landmark moment in the classical percussion field. It has revolutionised the role of the mridangam, proving that as an art form, South Indian percussion instruments can be played as solo instruments in their own right. A concept initiated by Mani has since been undertaken by several leading mridangists who have also performed Thani Avarthanam concerts. Since then, Mani has conducted several “Thani Avarthanam” duet concerts featuring leading percussionists on Ghatam, Thavil, Chendai, etc.

The musician Karaikudi Mani has the ability to mesmerise audiences. A perfect unison of rhythm and melody, a wonderful blend of intricate laya patterns, and soulful sarvalaghu exemplified by crisp clarity make this artiste complete in every sense. This combined with majestic valour in Mani's playing enables him to produce a magnetic vibration on stage that is simply infectious. In a Thani Avarthanam concert, the talent of this inimitable musician is not only displayed through mridangam. Mani is a proficient vocalist also, and will often sing a short Ragam, Thanam, Pallavi before commencing his solo. He is also distinguished in the art of Konnakol which also sometimes forms part of his performances.

International Collaboration[link]

Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani has performed with many international artists like Paul Grabowsky of Australian Art Orchestra, Eero Haemmeneimi of Finland Naada group,^[3] Elio Marchesini La Scala percussionist and Livio Magnini of Italy, Paul Simon of USA and with Finland Philharmonic Orchestra. A piece called Layapriya was performed with Finland Philharmonic Orchestra^[4] which was later performed by the Battery Dance Company as a dance ballet. The Australian Art Orchestra has adapted his Bahudari and Ranjani compositions into Jazz style and released it as "Into The Fire". The Naada group of Finland has converted the Behag composition into Jazz orchestrization and released it as "UNMATCHED". It is his greatness as a percussion maestro that made Eero Haemmeneimi dedicates 4 compositions in his name.

His latest venture titled "Amrutham - Fusion for Freedom" is an effort. Apart from that, he has also collaborated with Japanese musician John Kaizan Neptune to create an album named "Steps in Time".^[5] In this album, Guru Karaikudi Mani has created a unique synthesis of shakuhachi and Indian percussion.

In 2007, Mani has started the Sruthi Laya Kendra institution in New Jersey Ramsey, USA and Mridanga Seshthiram of Toronto-Canada merged with Sruthi laya Kendra.

In 2008, Mani collaborated with Sarangan Sriranganathan and other Australian musicians in a Classical/ Fusion concert called "Unity in Diversity".

In 2011 he played on Paul Simon's album So Beautiful or So What.

Musician, Editor, Founder[link]

• Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani is the first percussionist to start a music magazine called " Layamani Layam "^[6] and it is running successfully now for the past 13 years.

• SRUTHI LAYA KENDRA, Chennai, for the past 19 years has been conducting winter music festival dedicated to Guru Surajananda. The Guru Surajananda and Gowri Manohari awards with a cash award of Rs. 10,000 each are given to eminent personalities and best performers during the festival season.

• SRUTHI LAYA KENDRA, Secunderabad center has been conducting annual music and dance festival for the past 7 years. Cash award of Rs. 10,000 is given to eminent personalities in the name of Sri Ganapathi Sachidananda Swamigal of Mysore.

• Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani's involvement in the last 55 years to development of Mridangam art has been exclusive and innovative. To mark this occasion , a group of students have presented him with a luxury car. An effort such as this has not been attempted before, in any part of the world for any kind of music.

SEASUN - The Gurukulam[link]

Guru Karaikudi Mani has launched a gurukulam called "Seasun Gurukulam"^[7] off East Coast Road near the seashore at Panayur Chennai - 600-119 (18 km away from mylapore chennai). The Seasun School is situated near a seashore environment. It is strongly emphasized that the curricula demand high-quality academic achievement. It requires concentrated and consistent study. The gurukulam consists of guestrooms, classroom, common kitchen and music library for learners. The intensity of the program normally consists of weekend study, daily classes, and field exercises. Several short trips are made during the year in connection with courses.

External links[link]

Indian classical music portal

• Karaikudi R. Mani's home Page
• A review of Karaikudi Mani's collaboration CD with a Finnish composer

References[link]